Decreasing, not increasing, leaf area will raise crop yields under global atmospheric change.

ABSTRACT: Without new innovations, present rates of increase in yields of food crops globally are inadequate to meet the projected rising food demand for 2050 and beyond. A prevailing response of crops to rising [CO₂ ] is an increase in leaf area. This is especially marked in soybean, the world's fourth largest food crop in terms of seed production, and the most important vegetable protein source. Is this increase in leaf area beneficial, with respect to increasing yield, or is it detrimental? It is shown from theory and experiment using open-air whole-season elevation of atmospheric [CO₂ ] that it is detrimental not only under future conditions of elevated [CO₂ ] but also under today's [CO₂ ]. A mechanistic biophysical and biochemical model of canopy carb

SUBMITTER: Srinivasan V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5347850 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature